Weekend in Cincy

We took the girls down to Cincinnati last weekend to visit my sister Jenna, and for my brother, Luke's surprise 30th bday party! We met up with Luke, Rach, & Abbott Friday at the CoCo Key Waterpark. The girls had fun playing in the water and swimming around. Then we went to dinner with them, Jenna, & Rachel's mom & brother. We went to Dave & Busters. We told the girls it was like a giant Chuckie Cheese. When we got there, Parker couldn't believe her eyes. Saturday, we went to the Newport Aquarium with Jenna. It was really cool. Later that night we met up with my whole family to eat dinner with Luke for his birthday. We ate at Champps and watched the final four games. After dinner we all went back to the hotel to hang out. At dinner, dad gave Abbott a lemon. He actually liked it!

Here we are at the Penguin Palooza. I love penguins, so this by far was my favorite exhibit.

I LOVE this picture of Matt & Parker and the Great White swimming above their heads! Parker enjoyed feeding the lorikeets. As did Harper. She was a bit skiddish though!

Here the girls are with Aunt Jenna. Of course Harper couldn't cooperate!

We had a great time at the aquarium. The girls loved it. We did have to wait outside for 1 hour before we could even buy tickets then another 15 min. to get in the doors. So, I totally recommend buying tickets ahead of time just in case!

Christmas in February?

So, all of last week, Matt was working his tail off in the bathroom upstairs. Since we've moved in, we have been able to take baths, but that is it. No toilet, sink, shower, or floor! He worked each night to finish the walls so they could be primed and painted. Then he hung the new lights. Once he got that done, he laid the floor. Once the floor was down, the toliet could be hooked up. The sink base is in there, but isn't hooked up yet. He still needs to hang the mirror, build the closet in, put the trim up around the window and floors, tile around the bathtub base, and hook the shower up.

These 2 little girls were SOOOOO excited about the toliet having water in it that you would've thought it was Christmas. They screamed just as much as they did when they opened up their American Girl dolls this year!

The shower is ready, almost! Needs to be emptied out.
The walls are a purple/grey color. You can also see the floor and the new ceiling light.

Parker was hilarious. The first time he let the water in the tank, it leaked. She was all about helping him fix it! The second time, it worked great.

Mr. Fix it!

We are very excited to be able to use the toilet now! It truly was Christmas in February!

The other day, Harper crawled up on Matt's lap and climbed into his shirt! They looked so funny. Parker tried to get in also, but the neck was so tight, that it was choking her!

Grandma & Grandpa took Harper with them to go watch Parker do her Shaving Cream ice skaing. She had a blast playing on all of the equipment in the gym.

Parker going for a slide.

Parker her friends making one heck of a mess!

Wipe-Out!

Ewww! Wash me please!

Weekend in Indy

Matt & I took the girls to Indianapolis this past weekend for a little Christmas present trip. Thanks to Mammy & Pappy for the hotel room and thanks to Grandma & Grandpa Penhorwood for the tickets to see Toy Story on Ice.

Here we are at the show! It was so great!

Buzz Lightyear made a grand entrance!
Here are the villains! Lotso Huggin bear & stretch the octopus.

Barbie & Ken playing peek a boo.

My favorite part was Ken's fashion show. Each outfit, they did a dance to. Matt's favorite was when barbie and about 20 of her barbie friends did a workout in their spandex! Harper was so cute. She had the biggest smile on her face when "You've Got a Friend in Me" came on. Parker loved the whole thing. She called Rosie after and thanked her for it. She said, "My favorite part was watching it!" It was a really great show. We were in the 6th row and really close to the ice. We had a great view. There was a lot of great music in it too. Not just Toy Story music.

Here is a video of the green army men skating.

While we were in Indy, we visited the Indianapolis Children's Museum. The girls loved the dinosaurs. In the background of this picture you can see the dinosaurs climbing into the building. It was cool.

Here they are in Egypt sitting on some Sphinxes.

Here is the outside of the museum. Looks like the dinosaurs are escaping.

Parker loved the Barbie exhibit. It was my favorite too. It showed all the barbies from the beginning until now. I recognized several that I played with. They could also draw outfits for barbie using rubbing tools.

And Mammy & Pappy put us up in a way cool hotel. We stayed at Caribbean Cove Water park hotel. The girls loved going swimming in the winter. It was so warm in there. I had never been to a water park hotel before. The water was warm, as was the room temp. Parker enjoyed going down the water slide in the tubes with Matt & I. Harper's favorite was the hot tub. We were able to swim all 3 days we were there. It was good time.

Thanks again Mammy & Pappy and Grandma & Grandpa Pwood. This Christmas present was better than toys, because we made memories!

Lost , I mean Found Photos!

I came across these photos on my camera last week! I forgot all about them! So, I took advantage of my snow (ice) day today!

Here is Parker getting her ears pierced on her birthday. That is the only thing she asked for. She was a trooper too. She didn't even flinch. When she was done, she said, "I think I'm ready to get my kindergarten shots now. That wasn't that bad!"

For Parker & Aiden's birthday, we had a party at Gloria's Tumbling. (It was in November!) Here are the kids playing in the pit. That was probably their favorite. They actually found the bottom of it by throwing all of the foam on one side!

Harper loves Gloria! (She has a little connection to her, since she decided to enter the world there! My water broke in the waiting room!)
Parker and her best friend, Julia. She is in her class at school. Gotta love Parker's face!

The Birthday Kids! 5 Years old already!

Parker & Gloria

All the kids in front of her giant smiley face.

Parker's first day of school this year.

Matt & the girls working on the hill out front.

They thought they were big stuff!

Harper wanted to be scooped up!

Classic

Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a great holiday. Ours went by too fast. My break was 7 school days, but only felt like a weekend!

Parker wanted me to put this picture on. She was so proud of Harper for putting on her own fake nails on! I love Harper's smile!

At Penhorwood Christmas we managed to steal a photo of the Great Grandkids (plus Nate). Oliver and Harper were furious and Taylor refused to look at the camera! But, they were all there so we figured we'd try! Bailey is the oldest at 18 and Lincoln is the youngest for now! He is going to have a brother or sister in July!
The girls had fun at Mamaw & Papaw Maier's house. Harper got Lotso Huggin Bear and Parker got an Easy Bake Oven.

This is the cool ride that the girls got from my dad & Becky. It looks just like Becky's real Mustang Convertible! They had a blast driving it back and forth in the living room! It's now in our dining room till spring.

Mammy & Pappy got the girls this doll house (that will stay at their house) They had a blast arranging the rooms.

Harper chose to eat some wonderful SARDINES on Christmas morning. EWWWW! Matt let the girls try some the week before that and they loved them. Harper couldn't get enough. Jokingly I offered some of Pappy's sardines on Christmas morning and she wanted them. She ate about half of the can too. Her choice of drink to go with was a V8 juice. Totally not my tastes buds! Must be from Matt:)

Here are the girls and Shelbie on Santa's lap at the Movie Theater. We went to see Yogi Bear. It was cute, but I liked Tangled better.

On Christmas Eve, Erika came over and we iced cookies for Santa! The girls had a good time spending time with her. They miss her a lot!

Here is a shot of the Penhorwood Girls by the tree.
I didn't take any pictures of Christmas morning, because I was running the video camera. My mom got a few shots. Parker got the American Girl doll, Lanie. Harper got the American Girl Bitty Baby (Baby Ava- as she calls her) and Big Baby from Toy Story 3.

Here is something that I've been working on and finally finished my first one! I made it for my friend at work. Her last name is Hammond. I took pictures of stuff around the property here and managed to spell her name. I have other letters too, but didn't have time to make any others. I want to spell out Penhorwood, but I'll need a really long frame! My favorite picture is the second M. It is a rock in my flower garden path that was cracked.

I realize these pictures are out of order and random, but that is kind of how I'm feeling today too! Back to work tomorrow. Hope your 2011 brings lots of luck to all of you!

All Aboard...The Polar Express

This past weekend we took the girls up to Akron to visit my brother and Rachel and Abbott. While we were there, Luke and Rach booked us a trip on the Polar Express. It is a simulated train ride to the North Pole. It is about 2 hours round trip.

Here they are ready to board the train.
Harper is waiting to get her ticket punched.

We all got to wear our jammies. It was very warm, almost too warm!

They even served hot chocolate and cookies, like in the story.

After the train conductor punched tickets, the train took off.

We brought along our books so we could follow along while one of the elves read the story.

Here we are at the North Pole. All of the kids went to one side of the train so they could look out at all of the elves. They even spotted Santa.

The girls had soo much fun!

On the way back, we sang Christmas carols. Parker sang We Wish You A Merry Christmas.

I think this one is a keeper!

Finally...Santa! We picked him up at the North Pole. He made is way through each train car and talked with each child individually about what they wanted for Christmas. Parker told him what she wanted, but Harper just looked at him. Rachel's nephew Conner was funny. He was all about Santa!

Santa gave each kid a bell too. Harper has hers hanging on our tree now.

I just loved this photo of Conner with Santa and his bell.

Special Thanks to Uncle Luke and Aunt Rach. We had so much fun! Both girls have already asked if we can go back next year:)